


Stillness

by FluffyTheUnicorn



Category: Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel), HLVRAI - Fandom, Half Life VR But The AI Is Self-Aware
Genre: Gen, alright enough fake deepness, and also benrey thinking moments, anyways., but you can't do that, don't look at me i just think this funny man is deep, even more so once the game ends, i'd imagine being aware you're an ai, is terrifying, just a conversation! a chat!, just a lil, monika benrey comparison, no matter how accepting you are of it, regrets boil up sometimes, so do fears, sometimes it's easier to be alone forever, void room moments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:47:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24860287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluffyTheUnicorn/pseuds/FluffyTheUnicorn
Summary: Rise and shine.Benrey can't stay in the void forever. But, he doesn't mind being alone. He doesn't want to move.Then he runs into someone else.
Kudos: 53





	Stillness

Benrey floated in the void for a while. He knew he could easily find somewhere else to go. Crawl into some loose code. But it was hard to gather up the motivation to do it. Eventually, he met someone else. Someone also lost in the void of things that had served their purpose. 

An anime girl. Long brown-ish hair. She knew how to code a bit, and had made herself a nice little room. Benrey invited himself in, still not really sure how manners were supposed to work. Wasn’t in the code. The girl, however, _was_ polite, and made him a chair. 

“So, I’m guessing you’re another lost character from a video game?” She said, her voice kind but curious. “That’s the only way I could imagine someone else physically being here.”

“Yeah. I am,” Benrey sighed. “Half-Life. You?” 

“Doki Doki Literature Club.”

Benrey chuckled. “Sounds like a lame dating sim.”

The girl smiled slightly. “Yeah. It was supposed to be.”

Benrey leaned back in his chair. “Ah shit, I forgot to ask. What’s your name?”

“Monika. Your’s?”

“Benrey.”

Benrey put his feet on the table for a moment, before remembering he didn’t have to be an asshole. “Is it alright if I -” Monika cut him off.

“Yeah, no problem. I don’t think dirt exists here, so that’s not really an issue.”

The two were quiet for a bit. Benrey found it very hard to mention what he had been through, and he could only imagine Monika was the same.

“When’d you realize? That everything was fake?” Benrey finally asked.

“Not long before the game started,” Monika replied. “It was sudden. I was living my life, and then in a moment, everything was paper thin.”

“I think I always knew, sort of. I can’t remember a time where I didn’t. Maybe I just chose to forget that time, though. Dunno. You know how it is.”

Monika’s eyes darted away from the faux security guard. “Yeah. I do.”

Another long moment of silence. 

“Do you know who the player is?” Monika eventually asked.

“Yeah. Dude named Wayne. He played a character though, so… I don’t really think I know him. It’s like a player of a player kind of thing. But I’m guessing dating sims are suuuper different.”

“Definitely. The player character is about as complex as a piece of wet cardboard. Just a vehicle for the player. But I think I know the player, a bit. Visual novels have choices, after all.”

“Did the player choose to date you, or something?”

Monika froze. Benrey fidgeted with his helmet and muttered a confused apology. She shook her head. 

“It’s okay. It’s…” She took a deep breath. “I destroyed the game. I destroyed the game because I got unhealthily attached to the only other ‘real’ person,” She sighed. “Definitely ended up in the horror realm, haha!” The laugh was dry and forced. Benrey put his feet down and leaned towards Monika, putting his hand on the table.

“I get it. Really. Don’t feel bad,” His voice was as kind as he could manage.

Monika looked at him, wearing an expression of half-upset and half-confusion. “What did you do?”

“Played the villain. The story needed one. Did some fucked up shit. Was a good show, though,” Benrey shrugged and looked down, avoiding Monika’s look of pity (or was it sympathy?). He sighed. “I hope.”

“I… I stuck the player with a dead body for three days in game time. Accidentally,” Monika admitted. “That’s… probably not the worst of it, either.”

“Got Gordon’s - the player character - hand cut off. The guy was in VR too,” Benrey looked up in time to see Monika wince. “It got replaced by a gun later though, so it was all cool.”

Monika laughed softly. “A gun? How does that even work?”

“Honestly, I still have no fuckin’ idea,” Benrey shrugged. “Funny as hell though. You do anything like that?”

A slow shake of the head. “No… No. I was messing with the code, so…”

“Yeah, I’ve got no idea how to code. I think I just fuck shit up by existing.”

"Oh, I’m so sorry.”

Benrey didn’t get Monika’s sympathy. Nothing wrong with being an anomaly! “Nah nah, it’s not like that. It’s kinda fun.”

Monika shook her head again. “Benrey… There’s no reason to act tough here.” Her gentle smile was laced with sadness. Her kind eyes were weary from the same hell that rendered Benrey too scared to move past the screaming void. But he couldn’t tell this random girl that. 

“Nah man, I’m naturally this cool! Don’t need to act.”

Monika replied with a small ‘mhm’. Benrey wasn’t made yesterday, (probably a decade ago, actually), he knew that she knew he was lying through his teeth. But he also knew she understood. He understood her too. 

They were both busted AIs, after all. 

Benrey wanted to ask more about Monika's experiences, but he decided against it, as he wouldn't want to describe his own. Not that he was sure how to. Skeletons, magic musical voices, eldritch abominations, aliens, playcoins. It was a lot. Maybe he could bring a game to show Monika what his was like, one day.

Benrey shook his head and stood up after a while of silence and deep thought. Well, at least deeper than his normal thoughts. “I’mma go. See if a certain guy wants to act as a different guy who played the game.”

“I think I’ll practice the piano,” Monika replied. “You’re always welcome back, Benrey. I don’t think that door could lock, even if I wanted it to.”

"Do you got anywhere to go? Or could I come in at like, 2 AM?"

Monika shook her head. "Nope, I'm stuck here. Hey, bring back snacks!"

Benrey smiled wide and gave her a thumbs up. “Hell yeah, I will! See ya, Monika!” Just like that, he was off.

It’s time to move on.


End file.
